The process of bra fitting is complicated by variations in size, shape and disposition of breasts, by the amorphous nature of breasts themselves, and by the fact that many women are never measured for bra size, either professionally or otherwise. Further, most women are not instructed or educated on how a bra should fit. This is especially true for young women who purchase their first brassiere and are typically too uncomfortable with professional fitting and other methods to seek advice. When buying a bra, most women rely on previous experience roughly estimating the size that is required. This process will always be an approximation as changes occur to the size and shape of breasts at different times during the life of a woman. (for example changes in breast size occur during and after pregnancy).
A bra is typically chosen by selection of a favorite style or make, regardless of the accuracy of the fit. As a result, the customer is likely to purchase a bra that will fit improperly and which could lead to discomfort and other negative health side effects in the future. Another negative of this method of selection is that the retailer and manufacturer are likely to have no knowledge of common fitting problems for a specific product, and thus will be unable to prevent similar situations in the future.
The difficulty of finding a correct fitting bra is further compounded by the problem that a lot of women fall in between available standard sizes, and further the standard sizes are often not uniform between makes and styles of bras. The composition and components of a bra, such as its elastane or Lycra™ content, or features such as underwires also affect the fit of a bra and have to be taken into account when choosing the correct size.
Poorly fitting bras are uncomfortable and often provide insufficient support. This can cause adverse effects on posture, breast tissue and breast shape over time and can even lead to numerous other physical effects including headaches, back pain, breast tenderness, poor circulation, shoulder strain, skin chaffing and lymphedema. The correct fitting bra is especially important while breasts are developing during the teenage years and incorrect fitting during this time can lead to complications in later years.
To try and solve these problems, some retail outlets provide a personal bra measuring service whereby measurements are done by a sales representative either with or without a bra being worn by the customer. A significant problem of this process is that many women feel uncomfortable about being measured by a stranger. As a result women are hesitant and reluctant to use the service. Another problem with such service is that although the sales representative is able to provide interactive advice to a customer, the advice provided is limited to the individual sales representative's knowledge of proper fitting techniques, and upon their knowledge of the manufacturers' products and inventory. Further, in a busy store individual consulting services are limited by the number of available sales representatives.
Self-measuring charts and instructions have also been used to address some of these problems. These generally involve measuring the circumference of the torso under the breasts to obtain a torso measurement, followed by taking a measurement across the breasts at the largest point. These measurements are then generally inserted into a formula to work out a nominal torso and bra cup size. However, these measurements are limited in usefulness and only provide guidance with respect to suggested fit with great variation still existing even in situations of accurate measurement. Also, due to a lack of proper education and direction, the initial measurements themselves are often done incorrectly and are therefore often imprecise. These basic uniform measurements do not provide the level of insight required to properly fit a bra as they do not account for variations in aspects such as depth, width of cleavage breast shape and asymmetry of breasts.
Other attempted solutions have included the development of breast measuring devices such as tapes and harnesses. These devices can be complicated to use and the limited data that they generate can only be utilized to provide suggested sizes. Further, if used incorrectly, the data generated will lead to the suggestion of the wrong type of bra for the customer.
Another suggested solution has been the creation of databases containing information obtained from the manufacturer on specific bra products. The customer inputs specific data (often 2 or 3 size measurements) and the database outputs suggested products. These databases have a limited scope and only generate information regarding suggested sizes and products. Further, the existing databases do not provide interactive feedback during the fitting and trying on process.
What is needed is an apparatus and method for assisting customers with the selection and fitting of a bra that combines the benefits of the interactive feedback and personalized advice provided by an individual sales clerk, and the benefits of self measuring devices and databases, but which overcomes the shortfalls associated with each.